State Bans Sanctuary Cities

Iowa has just passed a law banning so called Sanctuary Cities anywhere in the state:

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed into law an immigration enforcement bill that bans so-called sanctuary cities.

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The Republican governor signed the bill privately Tuesday. The news was tucked into a press release about 16 other bill signings.

The legislation will require law enforcement to follow requests from federal agents to hold a jailed person suspected of being in the country illegally. Local governments risk losing state funding if they don’t comply with the law.

Attorneys say the provision could open the state to litigation. Community organizers argue the bill will lead to racial profiling.

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Lawmakers who supported the measure called it a public safety issue. Reynolds highlighted the legislation in a gubernatorial fundraising email.

California however is going in the opposite direction, not only as a sanctuary state, but trying to block the border wall in court:

California will appeal a decision allowing construction of a portion of President Donald Trump’s border wall, after a federal judge found the administration can waive environmental laws governing such projects.

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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the proposed barrier “medieval” and vowed to continue protecting the state from “federal overreach.” The lower court decision ensures the barrier can be built on an accelerated timetable.

“When we said that a medieval wall along the U.S.-Mexico border does not belong in the 21st century, we meant it,” Becerra said. “There are environmental and public health laws in place, and we continue to believe that the Trump administration is violating those laws.”

The state filed its notice of appeal Monday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Such filings do not include detailed legal arguments, which will appear in a subsequent brief.

Becerra sued the Trump administration in September 2017 to stop construction of a stretch of wall near San Diego, extending eastward from the Pacific Ocean. Becerra, a Democrat, argues the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cannot waive relevant provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act, which, under normal circumstances, would impose numerous constraints on the administration’s plans.

Do you approve or disapprove of the decision to ban sanctuary cities in Iowa?

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